Melmo and Meow

I can't believe that it was been two weeks since the last update. Some may blame it on my jealousy of Addie's blog receiving more attention than my own. The truth is that I've just been busy at home and work.

I mentioned in my blog about sounds that Addie had recently become a fan of cats and that she started saying "meow" when she saw our neighbor's cat. That was the case a few weeks back, and it has continued through today. One of our nighttime rituals is reading Addie a few stories before we give her her last bottle and put her down for the night. Nightly we read "Goodnight Moon" to her, and lately as we read "goodnight" to the kittens, Addie will take her binky out of her month and say, "meow." If she's exceptionally tired, she just leave the binky in her mouth and let out a muffled, "meow." It' really quite cute, and I find myself rereading that part until I exhaust it.

Elmo's popularity hasn't seemed to increase as much as I thought it would. I even won a stuffed Elmo at Boondocks because I thought she would like continue her obsession, but isn't quite as excited as I anticipated. Despite this lack of enthusiasm, however, Addie's has begun to say Elmo, but it actually sounds a bit more like "Melmo." She'll walk around the coffee table and say, "Melmo" over and over again.

Wouldn't it be something if we could buy a cat that looked like "Melmo"?

A Message from Addie

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Translation: My blog is better than my dad's. It makes him jealous that mine gets more traffic.

Head, Shoulders, Knees and TOES!

I've noticed that Addie has become increasingly more infatuated with toes. Not hers, but the toes of others. Her infatuation is a bit odd, however.

This first started a few weeks ago as I was sitting on the couch and with my feet on the coffee table. Addie was busy playing with a variety of toys and began walking around the coffee table when all of the sudden she spotted my toes and subtly crept up to them and opened her to suck on them.

Being the responsible parent that I am, I told her not to and pulled my toes away. For weeks she occasionally tried to put my toes in her mouth, but over the last week I hadn't seen her do this and I thought that it was just a phase and we were now in the clear. But this past Sunday as we visited Court's aunt and uncle, it became evident that this is not a phase, but an obsession.

As we sat around chatting, Court's uncle, Waggy, -- as I refer to him in my blog -- was sitting on the couch with his feet on the coffee table. Addie was busy circling the table when she spotted Waggy's toes, and like she did to me, subtly approached his toes and opened her mouth to get a taste. I stopped her before she could slime his toes.

If that wasn't enough to convince me of this infatuation, yesterday as I was in the kitchen preparing dinner, Addie, wanting to be close to her mom and dad, was playing with the dishwasher. Suddenly Addie started crawling my way. I thought nothing of this and continued on with my business, then, with her at my feet, I looked down and saw Addie leaning over and moving her mouth to my toes. She didn't do this once, but twice before I had to distract her with some toys.

I sort of hope she keeps it up for a while so when she starts dating I can tell her dates of this nasty habit. That should keep the boys away.

First Game

Today Addie got a taste of one of fall's great tradition: BYU football. Donning her BYU cheerleader outfit that she got from her aunt Livi for Christmas, Addie accompanied her mom, dad and grandparents to her first game at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

Initially, Court and I were a bit apprehensive taking her to the game because it would mean that she would possibly miss two naps, be in the sun all day, and unable to meander and play at will. But as Addie always does, she shocked us by never fussing despite no naps. Addie seemed to enjoy being amongst all the people and commotion.

She was completely mesmerized at the halftime show when the dancers waved flags around. And while the Cougars beat Tulsa, she had ample opportunities to sing the fight song with the four of us and thought it was extremely fun as she was bounced around as we sang.

Addie also practiced her social skills with older people since she's not yet ready to deal with kids her own age. She befriended everyone around us including golf great, Johnny Miller, who ended up giving her a peanut to eat -- I wish I would have saved it so I could put on eBay.

When all was said and done and lightning had suspended play, we headed home to get her to bed. Within five minutes of putting her in the carseat, she was OUT.

With another game not far away, it looks like we'll be taking her to the game again. Maybe this time she'll get another peanut from Johnny Miller.

Social Skills

As Addie grows up, we are quickly realizing that her social skills aren't progressing quite as quick as the rest of her. This became evident in our latest trip to Cafe Rio with our friends the Pratt's.

The Pratt's have a daughter that is three months younger than Addie. While we ate, Addie must have been overcome with excitement to see and interact with someone her own age. With Addie and Lily sitting close to each other, Addie began yelling. She wasn't yelling because she was angry or upset, but yelling to interact with her. Apparently Lily didn't take it as Addie intended and soon began crying. With a look of disbelief on her face, Addie, instead of keeping quiet, began to yell again and Lily subsequently began crying.

After separating the two, things began to return to normal -- Lily was comforted and Addie became entertained with talking to herself. Ten minutes passed and it appear as if we were going to get through the night without further incident. We were wrong. As I fed Addie her green beans, she soon started yelling again. However, this time it looked like Addie was just being mean. Her mouth was covered with green beans as she yelled, and I think that Lily became exponentially more scared of her and continued to cry. It seemed that the more Lily cried, the more Addie yelled. I think she found it funny. I know all four adults did.

After this incident we fear that Addie will be the girl that all her friends will complain to their mothers saying, "Mom, do I really have to play with Addie?"

What is a "Baw"?

What is a "baw" you ask? According to dictionary.com, a "baw" is actually an acronym for such things as bells and whistles, brain awareness week, and bulk acoustic wave to name a few. But to Addie it means "ball."

Within the past week or so Addie's become enamoured with her beach ball and another rubber ball at her grandma's house. We're not sure why this is, but we suspect that it stems from her recently-developed ability to pick them up and toss them about. Mind you, she is 10-months-old, and her tosses don't go much farther than a foot.

I wasn't aware how much she actually loved her beach ball until this morning. As I prepared the diaper bag for church, Addie was walking along the cupboards in the kitchen when suddenly she lost her balance and fell head first into the cupboard, making such a loud sound that Court could hear it all the way upstairs. I quickly picked her up to comfort her and made sure she didn't draw blood. As I hugged her and tried to make it better it was apparent that it wasn't helping. Then, through her tears and over my shoulders she saw her "baw" and called for it.

Immediately I grabbed the ball and gave it to her. She was quickly comforted. The crying was replaced with an occasional whimper and Addie saying, "baw." The ball had made all the difference in the world.

I guess the "baw" is her new source of comfort. I get the feeling that the ball won't be buying her a car when she turns 16, though.